Joan Miró Ferra was born on April 20, 1893, in Barcelona. At the age of 14, he went to business school in Barcelona and also attended La Lonja, the academy of fine arts, the same city. Upon completing three years of art studies, he took a position as a clerk. After suffering a nervous breakdown, he abandoned business and resumed his art studies, attending Francesc Galí’s Escola d’Art in Barcelona from 1912 to 1915. In 1917, he met Francis Picabia and the following year, the dealer José Dalmau gave him his first solo show at his gallery in Barcelona.
n 1920, Miró made his first trip to Paris, where he met Pablo Picasso. From this time, Miró divided his time between Paris and Montroig, Spain. In Paris, he associated with the poets Max Jacob, Pierre Reverdy, and Tristan Tzara and participated in Dada activities. Dalmau organized Miró’s first solo show in Paris, at the Galerie La Licorne in 1921. His work was included in the Salon d’Automne of 1923. In 1924, Miró joined the Surrealist group. His solo show at the Galerie Pierre, Paris, in 1925 was a major Surrealist event; Miró was included in the first Surrealist exhibition at the Galerie Pierre that same year. He visited the Netherlands in 1928 and began a series of paintings inspired by Dutch masters. That year he also executed his first papiers collés and collages. In 1929, he started his experiments in lithography, and his first etchings date from 1933. During the early 1930s, he made Surrealist sculptures incorporating painted stones and found objects. In 1936, Miró left Spain because of the civil war; he returned in 1941.
Miró’s first major museum retrospective was held at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, in 1941. That year, Miró began working in ceramics with Josep Lloréns y Artigas and started to concentrate on prints; from 1954 to 1958, he worked almost exclusively in these two mediums. In 1958, Miró was given a Guggenheim International Award for his murals for the UNESCO building in Paris. The following year, he resumed painting, initiating a series of mural-sized canvases. During the 1960s, he began to work intensively in sculpture. Miró retrospective took place at the Grand Palais, Paris, in 1974. In 1978, the Musée National d’Art Moderne exhibited over 500 works in a major retrospective of his drawings. Miró died on December 25, 1983, in Palma de Mallorca, Spain.
Biography from Guggenheim Museums
Note: All works © 2025 Successió Miró / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris
This is part 13 of a 13-part series on the works of Joan Miró:
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| 1974 Woman acrylic on canvas 162 x 130 cm Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain |
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| 1974 Woman in front of the moon acrylic on canvas 162 x 130 cm Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain |
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| 1974 Woman in front of the moon II acrylic on canvas 269.5 x 174 cm Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain |
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| 1974 Woman in front of the shooting star III acrylic on canvas 204.5 x 194.5 cm Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain |
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| 1974 Woman in front of the sun I acrylic on canvas 258.5 x 194 cm Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain |
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| 1974 Woman, bird acrylic on canvas 130 x 97 cm Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain |
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| 1975 Pair of lovers playing with almond blossoms Model for the sculptural group at La Défense, Paris painted synthetic resin Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain |
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| 1975 Ceiling of the auditorium at the Fundació Joan Miró acrylic on wood chipboard 470 x 600 cm |
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| 1976 Painting oil and wax crayons on cardboard (hatbox) 71 x 37 cm Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain |
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| 1976 Painting - Poésie colour lithograph on white wove paper 60.8 x 90 cm The Art Institute of Chicago, IL |
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| 1976 Horses startled by a bird oil on "pompier"-style chipboard 62 x 87.5 cm Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain |
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| 1976 Homage to Helion lithograph on white wove paper 75.8 x 56 cm The Art Institute of Chicago, IL |
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| 1976 Figures and birds in a landscape oil on canvas "pompier" style 91 x 166.5 cm Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain |
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| 1976 Figure, bird oil on cardboard (lid of a hatbox) 42 x 35.7 cm Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain |
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| 1976 Woman, birds oil and gouache on cardboard 65 x 50 cm Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain |
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| 1976 Woman, birds India ink, oil, wax crayons, plastic twine and Kraft paper on plywood 123.5 x 83.5 cm Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain |
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| 1976 Woman oil on canvas 244.4 x 169.5 cm National Gallery of Art, Washington DC © 1998 Board of Trustees, National Gallery of Art, Washington |
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| 1976 Woman in front of the moon oil on cardboard (hatbox) 79 x 105 cm Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain |
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| 1976 Woman and bird in front of the sun oil on cardboard (hatbox) 106 x 115.5 cm Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain |
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| 1977 The Goldsmiths Untitled engraved monoprint, with hand colouring 90.8 x 63.2 cm (sheet) |
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| 1977 Rue Blomet colour lithograph on white wove paper 90 x 62.8 cm (sheet) The Art Institute of Chicago, IL |
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| 1977 Figure in front of the moon oil on canvas 146 x 97 cm Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain |
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| 1977 Figure and birds in front of the sun oil on canvas 145 x 97 cm Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain |
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| 1978 Birds in space acrylic on canvas 33 x 24 cm Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain |
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| 1978 Birds encircling the star of hope acrylic on canvas 73 x 60 cm Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain |
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| 1978 Figures, birds, star acrylic and oil on canvas 89 x 116 cm Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain |
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| 1978 Figures and birds with a dog acrylic on canvas 73 x 92 cm Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain |
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| 1978 Figures and birds in a nocturnal landscape oil on canvas 55 x 46 cm Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain |
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| 1978 Figure, star acrylic on canvas 116 x 89 cm Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain |
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| 1978 Figure, star acrylic on canvas 73 x 60 cm Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain |
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| 1978 Figure, bird, star oil on canvas 46 x 38 cm Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain |
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| 1978 The red bird acrylic on canvas 33 x 24 cm Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain |
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| 1978 The Little Stringbean colour lithograph on white wove paper 36.5 x 34.5 cm The Art Institute of Chicago, IL |
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| 1978 Woman, birds, star acrylic on canvas 33 x 24. cm Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain |
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| 1978 Woman, bird, star acrylic and oil on canvas 116 x 89 cm Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain |
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| 1978 Woman, bird acrylic on canvas 81 x 65 cm Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain |
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| 1978 Woman with a beautiful hat, star acrylic and oil on canvas 116 x 89 cm Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain |
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| 1978 Woman and birds in a nocturnal landscape acrylic on canvas 33 x 24 cm Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain |
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| 1978 Woman acrylic on canvas 92 x 73 cm Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain |
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| 1978 Woman acrylic and oil on canvas 130 x 97 cm Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain |
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| 1979 Tapestry of the Fundació jute, hemp, cotton and wool 750 x 500 cm Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain |
1982 Almario published 1985:
An illustrated book with four drypoints (one with aquatint) and one etching.
folio 8
drypoint 9.9 x 8 cm (plate)folio 22
drypoint 16.7 x 14.8 cm (plate)folio 34
drypoint 16.8 x 14.9 cm (plate)folio 72
etching 16.8 x 14.9 cm (plate)folio 76
drypoint and aquatint 23.7 x 17.9 cm (plate)n.d. Galerie Maeght
lithograph 64.3 x 47.8 cm
MoMA New Yorkn.d. Galerie Maeght
lithograph 66.9 x 49.7 cm
MoMA New York
